Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving access information of broadcast service in a broadcasting system, and system thereof

ABSTRACT

A broadcasting system for providing access information of a broadcast service, wherein a transmission apparatus generates the access information for at least one of a broadcast network and an interaction network, from which the broadcast service is transmitted, and transmits the access information to a terminal via a specific communication network. A reception apparatus receives the access information of the broadcast service via the communication network, analyzes the received access information to determine a network from which the broadcast service is provided, among the broadcast network and the interaction network, and sets an access address for reception of the broadcast service.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/502,619, filed on Aug. 11, 2006, and claims the benefit under 35U.S.C. §119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0074011 entitled“Method and Apparatus for Transmitting/Receiving Access Information ofBroadcast Service in a Broadcasting System, and System thereof”, filedin the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Aug. 11, 2005, KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2005-0074534 entitled “Method and Apparatusfor Transmitting/Receiving Access Information of Broadcast Service in aBroadcasting System, and System thereof”, filed in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office on Aug. 12, 2005, and Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2006-0064116 entitled “Method and Apparatus forTransmitting/Receiving Access Information of Broadcast Service in aBroadcasting System, and System thereof”, filed in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office on Jul. 7, 2006, the entire disclosures ofall of said prior applications being hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus forproviding broadcast services in a broadcasting system. In particular,the present invention relates to an access informationtransmission/reception method and apparatus for efficiently achievingaccess to broadcast services, and a system and terminal thereof.

Description of the Related Art

The mobile communication market continuously requires production of newservices through for example, the recombination or integration ofexisting technologies. Today, with the development of communication andbroadcast technologies, the conventional broadcasting system or mobilecommunication system has reached the phase of providing broadcastservices through portable terminals (or mobile terminals), such asmobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Due to the latentand actual market needs and the increasing demand for multimediaservices, the service providers' intended strategies for providing newservices such as broadcast service in addition to the existing voiceservice, and the identified interests of Information Technology (IT)companies which are bolstering their mobile communication businesses tomeet the user's demands, convergence of the mobile communication serviceand the Internet Protocol (IP) has become the mainstream of developmentof the next generation mobile communication technologies.

The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), one of the standardization groups forbroadcast services, was established in June, 2002, by about 200companies including Nokia, NTT and IBM, to perform research on thestandard for interworking between individual mobile solutions. The OMAmainly serves to define various application standards for mobile gamesand Internet services. Of the working groups belonging to the OMA, theOpen Mobile Alliance Browser and Content Mobile Broadcast Sub WorkingGroup (OMA BAC BCAST) is now performing research on the technology forproviding broadcast services using mobile terminals. A brief descriptionwill now be made of the broadcasting system which is under discussion inthe OMA.

In a BCAST system, which is a broadcasting system proposed by the OMA, amobile terminal desiring to receive a broadcast service should receiveso-called service guide information containing description informationfor the service, billing information for the service, and information ona receiving method for the service. The mobile terminal receives theservice according to the information provided through the service guideinformation. A description will now be made of the conventionalbroadcast service access method with reference to the BCAST system as anexample of the general broadcasting system using the service guide. FIG.1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a service guide usedfor receiving broadcast services in a general broadcasting system. Thisstructure is proposed to provide broadcast services to the mobileterminal in the BCAST system. One service guide is comprised of aplurality of groups each having its own purpose, and all the groups areclassified into four groups according to use, as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1illustrates an exemplary service guide comprised of an administrativegroup 100, a provisioning group 110, a core group 120, and an accessgroup 130.

The administrative group 100 is a group for providing basic informationneeded by a mobile terminal to receive a service guide and includes aservice guide context fragment 101 and a service guide deliverydescriptor fragment 102. The service guide context fragment 101 providesa service guide identifier (ID), identification information of theservice provider that generated and transmitted the service guide, andthe entire information on the service guide. The service guide deliverydescriptor fragment 102 provides a channel capable of receivingfragments for a plurality of service guides, scheduling information, andupdate information to a mobile terminal so that the mobile terminal mayreceive only the necessary service guide at an appropriate time.

The provisioning group 110 is a group for providing fee information forservice reception and includes a purchase item fragment 111, a purchasedata fragment 112, and a purchase channel fragment 113. The purchaseitem fragment 111 provides fee information for a service or a servicebundle, the purchase data fragment 112 provides information indicatinghow a service user can pay the fee, and the purchase channel fragment113 provides information on the system where the service user canactually purchase the service.

The core group 120 is a group for providing information on the serviceitself and includes a service fragment 121, a schedule fragment 122, anda content fragment 123. The service fragment 121 provides a descriptionof the service itself that the user will receive, and also providesinformation indicating with which content the service can be configured.The schedule fragment 122 provides information on the time at which theservice can be provided and used. The content fragment 123 providesinformation on a plurality of contents constituting the service.

The access group 130 includes an access fragment 131 and a sessiondescription fragment 132, and provides service access informationindicating how to receive the services provided through the core group120, and detailed information on the session in which the contentsconstituting the corresponding service are transmitted, so as to allowthe mobile terminal to access the corresponding service. The accessfragment 131 provides a plurality of access methods for one service tothe mobile terminal, thereby providing a method capable of accessingvarious additional services based on one service. The sessiondescription fragment 132 provides session information for the servicedefined in one access fragment.

The service guide information, as shown in FIG. 1, can further include apreview data fragment 124 that provides a preview and icon for theservice and content in addition to the foregoing four fragments.

With reference to Table 1 to Table 7 below, a description will now bemade of the details of the access fragment defined in the conventionalOMA BCAST by way of example. Table 1 to Table 7 are divided from onetable, for convenience, and a definition of items in each table followsthe definition of Table 1.

TABLE 1 Data Name Type Category Cardinality Description Type 201 AccessE O 0 . . . N Access fragment Contains the following attributes: idversion validFrom validTo ServiceProtection AccessType AudioLanguageContains the following sub-elements: ExtensionURL AccessType ServiceIDUsageInfo SessionDescriptionURI SDP InteractiveAccessURLTerminalCapabilityRequirement BandwidthRequirement ApplicationSpecMediaInformation

In Table 1, a first item “Name” indicates names of attributes orelements of an access fragment, and a second item “Type” indicateswhether each object included in the access fragment corresponds toAttribute (A) or Element (E). As to a difference between the attributeand the element, the attribute is a value indicating an attribute of anaccess fragment and its element, and the element is a value indicatingthe information actually used. A third item “Category” indicates whetherthe attribute or element is a mandatory value (M) or an optional value(O). A fourth item “Cardinality” indicates whether the attribute orelement is repeated, and a fifth item “Description” indicates adescription of the attribute or element. Finally, a sixth item “DataType” indicates a data type of the attribute or element.

In Table 1, reference numeral 201 indicates what the attribute orelement included in the access fragment comprises.

TABLE 2 202 id A M 1 ID of the Access fragment. Integer 203 version A M1 Version of this fragment. The newer Byte (8 bits) version overridesthe older one as soon as it has been received. 204 validFrom A O 0 . . .1 The first moment when this fragment is Integer valid. If not given,the validity is assumed (32 bits), to have started at some time in thepast. expressed as NTP time. 205 validTo A O 0 . . . 1 The last momentwhen this fragment is Integer valid. If not given, the validity isassumed (32 bits), to end in an undefined time in the future. expressedas NTP time. 206 ServiceProtection A O 0 . . . 1 If true, this indicatesthat this service is Boolean protected; if false, this indicates thatthis service is free to air.

In Table 2, reference numeral 202 denotes an identifier of the accessfragment, and this is an attribute for enabling a mobile terminal touniquely identify a corresponding access fragment when it refers to thecorresponding access fragment in other fragments. Reference numeral 203denotes an attribute indicating a version of the access fragment, andenables indication of whether the mobile terminal has received an accessfragment of the same version or an access fragment of a new version.

The “validFrom” attribute denoted by reference numeral 204 and “validTo”denoted by reference numeral 205 are attributes indicating a validperiod of the information included in the access fragment, and“ServiceProtection” denoted by reference numeral 206 is an attributeindicating whether there is a need for a separate authenticationprocedure during access, as the service that can be accessed throughinformation of the access fragment is service-protected.

TABLE 3 207 AccessType A M 1 Defines the type of access Possible values:Integer 1. Default access object; has to exist for A/V (8 bits)streaming services (such as TV radio etc). It is used as default in caseof multiple accesses, associated SDP needed; 2. Alternated accessobject, associated SDP needed; 3. File carousel, to be used forscheduled file download and file carousel type of services; associatedSDP needed; 4. File download to be used for file download overinteraction network; associated AccessURI needed; 5. Service_SMS; thistype of access is used for creation of various SMS-based services(voting, etc); no associated SDP; 6. Service_web_local; this type ofaccess is used for pointing to locally stored web pages; no associatedSDP; 7. Service_web; this type of access is used for pointing tointernet services; no associated SDP; 8. Service_voice_call; this typeof access is used for making a phone call; 9. Service_MMS; this type ofaccess is used for creating various MMS-based services (voting, etc); noassociated SDP; and 10. Service_java_app; this type of access is usedfor launching Java applications.

In Table 3, “AccessType” denoted by reference numeral 207 is anattribute indicating in which method the mobile terminal capable ofreceiving broadcast service can receive the broadcast service thatprovides access information in the access fragment, and 10 Access Typesare currently defined. Therefore, it is undesirably necessary to newlydefine Access Type every time a service of a new type occurs.

TABLE 4 208 AudioLanguage A O 0 . . . N The language of the AudioStream. 3-byte ISO 639 language code 209 ExtensionURL E1 O 0 . . . N URLcontaining additional information in an AnyURI extension fragment. 210ServiceID E1 M 1 . . . N Reference to the service fragment(s) to whichInteger the access fragment belongs. 211 UsageInfo E1 O 0 . . . N Thistext helps the user understand what difference it makes to use one orthe other access fragment. It is mandatory in case more than one accessfragment is available at a given point in time. Possibly provided inmultiple languages. Attributes: Lang 212 Lang A O 0 . . . 1 Language3-byte ISO 639 language code

In Table 4, “AudioLanguage” denoted by reference numeral 208 is used toindicate a language of an audio stream transmitted through the accessfragment, and “ExtensionURL” denoted by reference numeral 209 is used toindicate an address of an extended fragment. The “ServiceID” denoted byreference numeral 210 is an element indicating an identifier of theservice that can be accessed through information of the access fragment,and “UsageInfo” denoted by reference numeral 211 is an element thatprovides information capable of indicating the usage and correlation ofa plurality of corresponding access fragments for users when there aremultiple access fragments capable of providing various accessinformation so as to receive various types of additional services forone service, and provides an attribute “Lang” denoted by referencenumeral 212 so that it can be provided in various languages.

TABLE 5 213 AccessURI E1 O 0 . . . 1 The URI to the SG delivery unit(s)which contain the AnyURI session description that the media applicationin the terminal uses to access the service. In case of non-broadcastservice, AccessURI contains information how that particular service canbe accessed. Attribute: Type Note; Using either AccessURI or SDP ismandatory. 214 Type A M 1 Type of the AccessURI: Integer 1 - SDP;AccessURI is a reference to SDP description; 2 - MBMS-USD; AccessURI isa reference to MBMS user service description (MEMS-USD) as specified in[26.346] section 5.2. It may contain one or several SDP descriptions.215 SDP E1 O 0 . . . 1 A session description in SDP (IFTF session Stringdescription protocol) format. (in SDP format) 216 Interactive E1 O 0 . .. N Specify alternative URL of the content for retrieving AnyURIAccessURL it via the interaction channel if the content cannot bereceived via the broadcast channel.

In Table 5, “AccessURI” denoted by reference numeral 213 is an elementindicating an address of the place where information on the session inwhich the service indicated by the access fragment is transmitted can beacquired, and has, for example, an attribute “Type” denoted by referencenumeral 214. The Type 214 is an attribute indicating the type of sessioninformation and supports a Session Description Protocol (SDP) type,which is a protocol of the current IEFT, and a session information typeused in Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), which is portablebroadcast technology specified by the asynchronous mobile communicationstandardization group. The “SDP” 215 is an element providing informationon actual session description, and “InteractiveAccessURL” 216 is anelement notifying an address so that a mobile terminal can receive theservice through an interaction channel.

TABLE 6 217 TerminalCapabilityRequirement E1 O 0 . . . 1 Specificationof required terminal String capabilities, such as protocols, codecs, bitrate, and processing memory; UAprof is used for expressing thecapabilities. 218 BandwidthRequirement E1 O 0 . . . 1 Specification ofrequired network Integer bandwidth. A broadcast service can includemultiple accessible streams (same content) with different bandwidth, sothat the terminal can make a choice depending on its current receptioncondition. 219 ApplicationSpec E1 O 0 . . . N Application type that canconsume the String service using this access spec defined by MIME type.

In Table 6, “TerminalCapabilityRequirement” denoted by reference numeral217 is an element indicating the software and hardware requirements of amobile terminal for receiving the service that can be accessed throughinformation of the access fragment, and based on this, a mobile terminalhaving a portable broadcast receiving function can determine whether ithas the capability of receiving the corresponding service. In addition,“BandwidthRequirement” denoted by reference numeral 218 is an elementindicating a data rate in a wireless environment of the service that canbe accessed through the access fragment, and enables selection of thedata rate required by the mobile terminal among several data rates, andreception of the service at the selected data rate. The“ApplicationSpec” 219 is an element providing separate informationcapable of receiving the service defined in MIME type.

TABLE 7 220 MediaInformation E1 O 0 . . . N Optional reference to anicon, pictogramme, animation or audio. PreviewData or reference toPreviewData is used here. Attributes: usage id 221 usage A M 1 Possiblevalues; background, icon(e.g.). Integer (8 bits) 222 id A M 1 ID of thePreviewData fragment. Integer (8 bits) 223 <proprietary E1 or O 0 . . .N Any number of proprietary or application- elements/attributes> lower.specific elements or attributes that are not A defined in thisspecification.

In Table 7, “MediaInformation” denoted by reference numeral 220 is anelement providing preview information of the service indicated by theaccess fragment by the mobile terminal that received the accessfragment, and has an attribute “usage” 221 and an attribute “id” 222.The attribute “usage” indicates whether it will use information of thefragment associated with the attribute “id” as preview information orbackground information. Reference numeral 223 denotes an element orattribute capable of providing other information that is not providedthrough the access fragment.

The access fragment of the conventional BCAST system, shown in Table 1to Table 7, has the following problems.

First, because “AccessType” conceptually defines Access Type for anactual service in Table 3, Access Type should be newly defined everytime a new service occurs. Second, most broadcast services provided tothe mobile terminal are multimedia services requiring a high data rate,and should efficiently use radio resources in order to supporthigh-speed transmission. Therefore, most broadcast technologies for themobile terminal introduce the multicast concept used in the InternetProtocol, and support a method for enabling the service only in theplace where the user is located. However, this method is not currentlysupported for the Access Type. Third, in the currently proposedbroadcasting system, there is no method for simply providing to themobile terminal a transmission scheme or transmission topology supportedin the broadcasting system for access to the broadcast service.

Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method for efficientlytransmitting/receiving access information of broadcast services in abroadcasting system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are provided to substantially solvethe above and other problems, and provide a method and apparatus forefficiently transmitting/receiving access information of broadcastservices in a broadcasting system, and a system thereof.

Further, embodiments of the present invention provide a method andapparatus for transmitting/receiving access information of a broadcastnetwork or an interaction network via which broadcast services aretransmitted in a broadcasting system, and a system thereof.

Further, embodiments of the present invention provide a method andapparatus for transmitting/receiving an access fragment including accessinformation of broadcast services in an IP-based broadcasting system,and a system thereof.

Moreover, embodiments of the present invention provide an accessfragment format for efficiently providing access information forbroadcast services in a broadcasting system.

According to one aspect of embodiments of the present invention, amethod is provided for transmitting access information of a broadcastservice in a transmitter of a broadcasting system. The method comprisesthe steps of generating access information for at least one of abroadcast network and an interaction network, via which broadcastservice is transmitted, and transmitting the access information to aterminal via a specific communication network.

According to another aspect of embodiments of the present invention, anapparatus is provided for transmitting access information of a broadcastservice in a transmitter of a broadcasting system. The apparatuscomprises an access information generator for generating accessinformation for at least one of a broadcast network and an interactionnetwork, via which broadcast service is transmitted, and a transmitterfor transmitting the access information to a terminal via a specificcommunication network.

According to another aspect of embodiments of the present invention, amethod is provided for receiving access information of a broadcastservice in a terminal of a broadcasting system. The method comprises thesteps of receiving, via a specific communication network, accessinformation for at least one of a broadcast network and an interactionnetwork, from which broadcast service is transmitted, and receiving thebroadcast service from the at least one of the broadcast network and theinteraction network according to the received access information.

According to yet another aspect of embodiments of the present invention,an apparatus is provided for receiving access information of a broadcastservice in a terminal of a broadcasting system. The apparatus comprisesa receiver for receiving, via a specific communication network, accessinformation for at least one of a broadcast network and an interactionnetwork from which broadcast service is transmitted and receiving thebroadcast service from the at least one of the broadcast network and theinteraction network according to the received access information.

According to still another aspect of embodiments of the presentinvention, a broadcasting system is provided for providing accessinformation of a broadcast service. The system comprises a transmissionapparatus for generating access information for at least one of abroadcast network and an interaction network, from which broadcastservice is transmitted, and transmitting the access information to aterminal via a specific communication network, and a reception apparatusfor receiving, via a specific communication network, the accessinformation of the broadcast service and receiving the broadcast servicefrom the at least one of the broadcast network and the interactionnetwork according to the received access information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of embodiments ofthe present invention will become more apparent from the followingdetailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a service guideused for receiving broadcast services in a general broadcasting system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a transmissionapparatus for generating an access fragment and transmitting the accessfragment to a mobile terminal in a broadcasting system according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating andtransmitting an access fragment in a broadcasting system according to afirst exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a receptionapparatus for receiving an access fragment in a broadcasting systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving and analyzingan access fragment in a broadcasting system according to the firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating andtransmitting an access fragment in a broadcasting system according to asecond exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving and analyzingan access fragment in a broadcasting system according to the secondexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like parts, components and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the annexed drawings. In the followingdescription, a detailed description of known functions andconfigurations incorporated herein has been omitted for clarity andconciseness.

In the following description, exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention will be presented to accomplish the above and other objects.Although the exemplary embodiments will be described based on the BCASTsystem, which is one of many portable broadcast technology standards,embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto, and thefollowing descriptions are not provided to restrict the possible scopeof the present invention. In this specification, it should be construedthat the broadcasting system comprises various communication systemssupporting IP-based broadcast services, such as the BCAST system and theDVB-H system. In addition, although a receiver of the BCAST system willherein be described as a mobile terminal for convenience, embodiments ofthe present invention are not limited thereto, and it would be obviousto those skilled in the art that the technical spirit of the presentinvention can also be applied to wired communication systems supportingIP-based broadcast services.

Although the term “service guide” will be used herein as the informationincluding, for example, relevant description and receiving method forthe broadcast service of the BCAST system, and “access fragment” will beused herein as the information including an access method of broadcastservices, the terms “service guide” and “access fragment” are subject tochange according to type of corresponding broadcasting system.

The present invention provides a number of embodiments, including theexemplary first to third embodiments described below. In the firstexemplary embodiment, the BCAST system proposes a new access fragmentefficiently configured to indicate an access method for a specificservice in service guide information that the mobile terminal receivesto receive the service. In the first embodiment, the access fragment isconfigured such that it includes only the attribute related to theservice access. Further, in the first embodiment, the access fragment isconfigured to indicate whether the service is transmitted over abroadcast channel or an interaction channel of the mobile communicationnetwork, without individually configuring “AccessType” providing accessinformation of the service for each service as shown in Table 3.

The second exemplary embodiment proposes an efficient access fragmentformat in which information of the same access fragment can be used fora plurality of different services. Finally, the third exemplaryembodiment proposes another embodiment capable of simply providingaccess information for service transmission through the broadcastnetwork and service transmission through the interaction network usingthe access fragment. In addition, it should be noted that the first tothird embodiments show various types of exemplary access fragmentformats, and commonly include features of the present invention ofproviding the detailed access information of the broadcast network andthe interaction network via which the services are transmitted.

Herein, the first exemplary embodiment will be described with referenceto Table 8 to Table 14, the second exemplary embodiment will bedescribed with reference to Table 15 to Table 18, and the thirdexemplary embodiment will be described with reference to Table 19 toTable 37. Although operations of a transmission apparatus of FIG. 2 anda reception apparatus of FIG. 4 will be described based on the firstembodiment for convenience, structures of the apparatuses of FIGS. 2 and4 can also be applied to the second, third, and other embodiments.

First Exemplary Embodiment

Table 8 to Table 14 show by way of example, a format of an accessfragment according to the first exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. Table 8 to Table 14 are divided from one table, forconvenience, and a definition of items in each table follows thedefinition of Table 8. In addition, the definition of each item in Table8 to Table 14 is substantially equal to the definition of Table 1, and adetailed description of the same parts throughout Table 1 to Table 7,and Table 8 to Table 14, will be omitted.

TABLE 8 Data Name Type Category Cardinality Description Type 301 AccessE O 0 . . . N Access fragment Contains the following attributes: idversion validFrom validTo Contains the following sub- elements:ServiceID UsageInfo SessionDescriptionURI SDP ApplicationSpecMediaInformation 302 Id A M 1 ID of the Access fragment. Integer 303version A M 1 Version of this fragment. The Byte newer version overridesthe older (8 bits) one as soon as it has been received. 304 validFrom AO 0 . . . 1 The first moment when this Integer fragment is valid. If notgiven, the (32 bits), validity is assumed to have started expressed atsome time in the past. as NTP time.

An access fragment of the first embodiment comprises attributes of “Id”302, “version” 303 and “validFrom” 304 in Table 8, and “validTo” 305 inTable 9. These four attributes represent unique attributes for theaccess fragment, and their functions are substantially equal to those ofthe attributes having the same names in Table 2. However, as to thedifference between the conventional access fragment described in Table 2and the access fragment proposed in embodiments of the presentinvention, the conventional access fragment has, as attributes, even thevalues not associated with the attributes of the access fragment,whereas the proposed access fragment is configured such that it has onlythe attributes associated with the access fragment, and has changed theother attributes to the elements matched to the correspondingcharacteristics.

The access fragment of the first embodiment, as presented in Table 8,comprises “ServiceID” 306 in Table 9, and “UsageInfo” 319,“SessionDescriptionURI” 321, “SDP” 323, “ApplicationSpec” 324 and“MediaInformation” 325 in Table 12 to Table 14, as sub-elements.

TABLE 9 305 validTo A O 0 . . . 1 The last moment when this fragment isInteger valid. If not given, the validity is assumed to (32 bits), endin an undefined time in the future. expressed as NTP time. 306 ServiceIDE1 M 1 . . . N Reference to the service fragment(s) to which the accessfragment belongs. Contains the following Attribute: ServiceProtectionContains the following elements: TerminalCapabilityRequirementBandwidthRequirement AccessType 307 ServiceProtection A M 0 . . . 1 “1”indicates that this service is protected, Boolean “0” indicates thatthis service is free to air. 308 TerminalCapability E2 O 0 . . . 1Specification of required terminal String Requirement capabilities, suchas protocols, codecs, bit rate, processing, and memory. UAprof is usedfor expressing the capabilities.

In Table 9, “ServiceID” denoted by reference numeral 306 is a serviceidentifier with which a mobile terminal can obtain access information ofa service through the access fragment, and has “ServiceProtection” 307as its attribute. The “ServiceID” has “TerminalCapabilityRequirement”308 in Table 9, and “BandwidthRequriement” 309 and “AccessType” 310 inTable 10, as its sub-elements. Therefore, in the first embodiment,because the element “ServiceID” has all access information of theservice, being coincident with the corresponding service, the proposedaccess fragment has higher efficiency than the conventional accessfragment in terms of the format.

The “TerminalCapabilityRequirement” 308 in Table 9 and“BandwidthRequirement” 309 in Table 10 have substantially the samefunctions as those of the conventional access fragment.

TABLE 10 309 BandwidthRequirement E2 O 0 . . . 1 Specification ofrequired network Integer bandwidth; A broadcast service can includemultiple accessible streams (same content) with different bandwidth, sothat the terminal can make a choice depending on its current receptioncondition. 310 AccessType E2 M 1 Defines the type of access. StringPossible values; Contains the following Attributes: TransmissionMediaContains the following elements: TransmissionTopology TransmissionScheme312 Transmission _Media A M 1 0: Broadcast channel ENUM 1: Interactionchannel 313 Transmission_Topology E3 O 0 . . . 1 0: Broadcast Mode ENUM1: Multicast Mode Contains the following attributes: IP_Address

The “AccessType” 310 in Table 10, provided to indicate in which methodthe mobile terminal can receive the service, is used to indicate whetherthe service is transmitted over the broadcast channel or transmittedover the interaction channel provided in the mobile communicationnetwork, and also indicate with which protocol or system the mobileterminal transmits the service. For this purpose, in the firstembodiment, the “AccessType” is comprised of one attribute and twosub-elements.

That is, “Transmission_Media” 312 in Table 10 is an attribute indicatingwhether the service is transmitted over the broadcast channel or isprovided from a communication network capable of bidirectionalcommunication, and a type of the sub-element that can be included in the“AccessType” is determined according to a value of the attribute. Forexample, if the “TransmissionMedia” indicates that the service istransmitted over the broadcast channel, “AccessType” comprises“Transmission_Topology” 313 in Table 10 and “IP_Address” 314 in Table11, as its sub-elements.

The “Transmission_Topology” in Table 10 is an element indicating whetherthe service transmitted over the broadcast channel will be transmittedin a broadcast mode or a multicast mode. The broadcast mode and themulticast mode are used in Internet Protocol, and if the“Transmission_Topology” indicates the broadcast mode, it means that theservice is transmitted to a particular area regardless of the positionof the service recipient. If the “Transmission_Topology” indicates themulticast mode, it means that the service is transmitted to the placewhere the service recipient is located in the serviceable area accordingto location information of the service recipient. In addition, when the“Transmission_Topology” indicates the multicast mode, the mobileterminal capable of receiving the broadcast service preferably shouldmake a subscription application to an IP address of the multicast modeand receive the broadcast service.

TABLE 11 314 IP_Address A O 0 . . . 1 IP address of IP stream, whichString transport A Service over Broadcast channel. If TransmissionTopology is 0, then Type of IP address is IP Broadcast address. IfTransmission Topology is 1, then Type of IP address is IP Broadcastaddress. 315 Transmission_Scheme E3 O 0 . . . 1 1: Interaction Channelprovided by ENUM Interaction Network 2: MMS 3: WAP 1.0 4: WAP 2 x 5: SMS6: HTTP 7: Service Provider defined Transmission Scheme 316AccessServerIPAddress E4 O 0 . . . N IP address of Sever, which providesString different access (over interaction Channel) of a Service. 317AccessServerURL E4 O 0 . . . N ULR of Server, which provides AnyURIdifferent access (over Interaction Channel) of a Service. 318AccessServerPhoneNumber E4 O 0 . . . N Phone number of Server, whichprovides different access (over Interaction Channel) of a Service.

The “IP_Address” 314 in Table 11, because the service is transmitted tomobile terminals in the form of IP flow in the BCAST system, is anattribute indicating an address for the IP flow. The “IP_Address”becomes an IP broadcast address or an IP multicast address according toa value of the “Transmission_Topology” in Table 10. Commonly, an IPaddress of the service is indicated in the session description. However,when the session description is not transmitted together with the accessfragment, it should be provided to the mobile terminal foridentification of the service on the IP level.

If the attribute “Transmission_Media” 312 in Table 10 indicatesInteraction Channel, “Transmission_Scheme” 315 in Table 11 is includedin the “AccessType” of Table 10, and the “Transmission_Scheme” comprises“AccessServerIPAddress” 316, “AccessServerURL” 317, and“AccessServerPhoneNumber” 318 as its sub-elements.

The “Transmission_Scheme” is an element indicating the communicationsystem or protocol used in the interaction channel, when it is possibleto access the service through the interaction channel. Although OMABCAST currently specifies, for example, Web Browsing, MultimediaMessaging Service (MMS), Wireless Application Protocol 1.0 (WAP1.0),Wireless Application Protocol 2.x (WAP 2.x), Short Messaging Service(SMS), and Hyper Text Transmission Protocol (HTTP) as the communicationsystems or protocols that can be used for the interaction channel,further communication systems and protocols that can be used for theinteraction channel can be added in the future.

In Table 11, “AccessServerIPAddress” 316, “AccessServerURL” 317, and“AccessServerPhoneNumber” 318 are elements indicating an address of theserver that provides the service over the interaction channel in orderto indicate whether the mobile terminal receiving the access fragmentcan access the service through the interaction channel in any place.Because an addressing system used in each communication system orprotocol is different, the representative addressing system of thecommunication system and protocol, currently adapted to support theinteraction channel, is presented.

The “AccessServerIPAddress” 316 is an element indicating a position ofthe server based on Internet Protocol, the “AccessServerURL” 317 is anelement indicating a position of the server that uses the communicationsystem or protocol supporting Web or URL, and the“AccessServerPhoneNumber” 318 is an element indicating a position of theserver that enables access to the service using MMS or SMS. Further, inembodiments of the present invention, a new communication system orprotocol is added to the “Transmission_Scheme” 315 in Table 11, and ifthe addressing system of the communication system or protocol isdifferent from the currently provided one, a new addressing system canbe added as a sub-element of the “Transmission_Scheme”.

TABLE 12 319 UsageInfo E1 O 0 . . . N The text explains thecharacteristic of this access fragment for a User. This text alsocontains the information about other Access fragments of a Service ifthere exists more than 1 Access fragment. Possibly provided in multiplelanguages. Attributes: Lang 320 Lang A O 0 . . . 1 Language 3-byte ISO639 language code 321 SessionDescriptionURI E1 O 0 . . . 1 The URI tothe SG delivery unit(s) AnyURI which contains the session descriptionthat the media application in the terminal uses to access the service.In case of non-broadcast service, AccessURI contains information on howthat particular service can be accessed. Contains following Attributeand element: Type Note; Using either AccessURI or SDP is mandatory.

The “UsageInfo” 319 in Table 12 is an element for giving a descriptionof the characteristic of the access fragment to the user of the mobileterminal, especially an element that can be used for describing thecharacteristic and correlation of each access fragment for the user evenwhen there are a plurality of access fragments for one service,providing sub-services having different characteristics. The “UsageInfo”has “Lang” 320 as an attribute.

The “SessionDescriptionURI” 321 in Table 12, and “Type” 322, “SDP” 323,“ApplicationSpec” 324, “MediaInformation” 325, “Usage” 326, “Id” 327,and “<proprietary elements/attributes>” 328 in Table 13 and Table 14,have substantially the same functions as those of the conventionalaccess fragment, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

TABLE 13 322 Type A M 1 Type of the AccessURI: Integer 1 - SDP;AccessURI is a reference to SDP description; 2 - MBMS-USD; AccessURI isa reference to MBMS user service description (MBMS- USD) as specified in[26.346] section 5.2. It may contain one or several SDP descriptions.323 SDP E1 O 0 . . . 1 A session description in SDP (IETF session String(in description protocol) format. SDP format) 324 ApplicationSpec E1 O 0. . . N Application type that can consume the service String using thisaccess spec defined by MIME type.

TABLE 14 325 MediaInformation E1 O 0 . . . N Optional reference to anicon, pictogramme, animation or audio. PreviewData or reference toPreviewData is used here. Attributes: usage id 326 Usage A M 1 Possiblevalues: background, Integer icon(e.g.). (8 bits) 327 Id A M 1 ID of thePreviewData fragment. Integer (8 bits) 328 <proprietary E1 O 0 . . . NAny number of proprietary or elements/attributes> or lower.application-specific elements or A attributes that are not defined inthis specification.

With reference to FIGS. 2 to 5, a description will now be made of astructure and operation of a transmission apparatus for generating andtransmitting an access fragment configured in the format of Table 7 toTable 14, and a reception apparatus for receiving the access fragment toreceive a desired service.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a transmissionapparatus for generating an access fragment and transmitting the accessfragment to a mobile terminal in a broadcasting system according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. The transmissionapparatus comprises an access fragment generator 201, a service guidegenerator 203, and a transmitter 205.

Referring to FIG. 2, the access fragment generator 201 generates anaccess fragment configured in the format of Table 7 to Table 14. Theservice guide generator 203 generates service guide information havingthe structure of FIG. 1 using the access fragment output from the accessfragment generator 201, and the transmitter 205 transmits the serviceguide information to the mobile terminal via a transmission network. Thetransmission network can be a network providing a broadcast channel, ora network providing an interaction channel.

The transmission apparatus of FIG. 2 can be applied to a transmitter ofthe BCAST system. Alternatively, the transmission apparatus can also beapplied to a transmitter of any number of communication systems thatprovide IP-based broadcast service to a plurality of users, like theDVB-H system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating andtransmitting an access fragment in a broadcasting system according tothe first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. This processcorresponds to an operation of the access fragment generator 201 of FIG.2.

Referring to FIG. 3, the access fragment generator 201 determines instep 301 whether there is a need to generate a new access fragment. Ifthere is a need to generate a new access fragment, it means that a newservice starts, or that there is a need to provide a new additionalservice or a new access method for the current service to a mobileterminal receiving the broadcast service. If it is determined in step301 that there is a need to generate a new access fragment, the accessfragment generator 201 sets basic information for the access fragment instep 303. The basic information comprises at least one of “Id”,“version”, and “validFrom” and “validTo” both related to validity of theaccess fragment, described in connection with Table 8 and Table 9.

In step 305, the access fragment generator 201 sets a service IDcorresponding to the information provided by the access fragment, andsets a basic attribute of the service corresponding to the service ID.The basic attribute comprises at least one of information indicatingwhether to apply the service protection, information indicating therequirements of the mobile terminal for receiving the service, andinformation indicating a data rate at which the service is transmittedin a wireless environment, all of which have been described inconnection with Table 9 and Table 10. In step 307, the access fragmentgenerator 201 determines whether the service will be transmitted over abroadcast channel or an interaction channel. If the service is to betransmitted over the interaction channel, the access fragment generator201 proceeds to step 309. However, if the service is to be transmittedover the broadcast channel, the access fragment generator 201 proceedsto step 315.

The access fragment generator 201 sets a transmission scheme for acommunication system or protocol to be used, in step 309, and sets anaddress for the corresponding communication system or protocol in step311. Thereafter, in step 313, the access fragment generator 201 setsservice usage information “UsageInfo”, and if there is characteristicdescription for the corresponding access fragment and a plurality ofaccess fragments for one service, the access fragment generator 201 addsdescription of characteristic and correlation for each of them to theaccess fragment so that a broadcast service recipient may detect thedifference.

In step 315, the access fragment generator 201 sets transmissiontopology information indicating whether the corresponding service willbe transmitted in a broadcast mode or a multicast mode. The mode-relatedinformation is determined by a transmission entity or a serviceproviding entity, and the access fragment generator 201 receives themode-related information provided from the corresponding entity, andsets the mode depending on the mode-related information. In step 317,the access fragment generator 201 sets IP information of an IP flowwhere the service is transmitted. Thereafter, in step 313, the accessfragment generator 201 sets service usage information “UsageInfo”.

In step 319, the access fragment generator 201 sets information on thesession in which the service, whose access information is providedthrough the corresponding access fragment, is transmitted. The sessioninformation comprises an IP address of a sender, an IP address of arecipient, a type of data transmitted through the session, and a codecused. Session Description Protocol defined by IETF is a typical exampleof the session information. Thereafter, in step 321, the access fragmentgenerator 201 sets the other information constituting the accessfragment, and then ends the operation.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a receptionapparatus for receiving a service guide containing an access fragment toreceive a broadcast service in a broadcasting system according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention. The reception apparatuscomprises a receiver 401, a service guide disassembler 403, and anaccess fragment analyzer 405.

Referring to FIG. 4, the receiver 401 receives service guide informationtransmitted from the transmission apparatus of the broadcasting systemvia a transmission network, and outputs the received service guideinformation to the service guide disassembler 403. The service guidedisassembler 403 extracts each fragment from the received service guide,and delivers the extracted fragment to a corresponding fragmentanalyzer. FIG. 4 shows only the access fragment analyzer 405 related toembodiments of the present invention, from among a plurality of possiblefragment analyzers. The access fragment analyzer 405 analyzes a receivedaccess fragment having the format of Table 7 to Table 14, included inthe service guide information according to an operation of FIG. 5described below, and a mobile terminal performs an operation ofreceiving the service based on the analysis result.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving and analyzingan access fragment in a broadcasting system according to the firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention. This process correspondsto an operation of the access fragment analyzer 405 of FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 5, the access fragment analyzer 405 determines in step501 whether there is any new access fragment received. The determinationcriteria is an attribute “version” of the received access fragment. Ifit is determined in step 501 that there is any access fragment received,the access fragment analyzer 405 analyzes, in step 503, the basicinformation of the access fragment, determines a valid period of theaccess fragment in the basic information, and recognizes that theinformation provided through the access fragment is valid only in thevalid period.

In step 505, the access fragment analyzer 405 determines a service IDthat can be accessed through access information provided by the accessfragment, and determines whether the corresponding service undergoesservice protection before being transmitted. When the service undergoesservice protection, the access fragment analyzer 405 prepares to performa related operation so as to correctly receive the correspondingservice. In addition, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks a basicattribute for the corresponding service ID, compares a performancecondition of the mobile terminal requiring the corresponding servicewith a performance condition of the current mobile terminal to determinewhether the service is receivable, and selects an appropriate channeltaking into account a bandwidth provided by the service.

In step 507, the access fragment analyzer 405 determines whether theservice will be transmitted over a broadcast channel or an interactionchannel based on the access information provided by the access fragment.If the service is to be transmitted over an interaction channel, theaccess fragment analyzer 405 proceeds to step 509. However, if theservice is to be transmitted over a broadcast channel, the accessfragment analyzer 405 proceeds to step 515.

In step 509, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks a transmissionscheme and recognizes a communication system or protocol to be used.After recognizing that it preferably should receive the service usingthe determined communication system or protocol, the access fragmentanalyzer 405 analyzes, in step 511, an address of the server thattransmits the service over the interaction channel, and prepares totransmit a service request. The addressing system may differ accordingto communication system and protocol using the interaction channel.Thereafter, in step 513, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks serviceusage information “UsageInfo”, and if there is characteristicdescription for the access fragment and a plurality of access fragmentsfor one service, the access fragment analyzer 405 recognizescharacteristic and correlation for each of them, and the mobile terminaldisplays the corresponding description for the user who will receive theservice so as to allow the user to make an appropriate selection.

In step 515, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks the transmissiontopology, analyzes the information indicating whether the service willbe transmitted in the broadcast mode or the multicast mode, and preparesto perform an operation appropriate for the analysis result. For theservice transmitted in the broadcast mode, the mobile terminal canreceive the corresponding service without joining in the service.However, for the service transmitted in the multicast mode, the mobileterminal preferably should perform a Join process for a multicast IPaddress group of an IP flow where the service is transmitted, in orderto receive the service.

In step 517, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks an address of theIP flow where the service is transmitted. The address of the IP flow isvery important for the mobile terminal scheduled to receive the servicein the process of distinguishing an IP flow where the service istransmitted. If the address of the IP flow is not provided, the mobileterminal preferably should perform an operation of receiving all IPflows transmitted through the broadcast channel and determining whetherthe corresponding service is a desired service, for every IP flow. Theaddress of the IP flow is connected to a communication bearer under anIP layer and indicates which communication bearer the mobile terminalshould receive in order to receive the IP flow. The method may bedifferent in each broadcast system providing the broadcast channel anddeparts from the scope of the present invention, so a detaileddescription thereof will be omitted.

After step 513, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks, in step 519,information on the session where the service, whose access informationis provided from the access fragment, is transmitted, and allows themobile terminal to prepare to receive the session where the service isactually transmitted. Thereafter, in step 521, the access fragmentanalyzer 405 analyzes the other information provided from the accessfragment and uses the related information for an appropriate purpose. Instep 523, the access fragment analyzer 405 prepares to access andreceive the service according to the information analyzed from theaccess fragment, and then ends the operation.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

With reference to Table 15 to Table 18 and FIGS. 6 and 7, a descriptionwill now be made of a method for transmitting/receiving an accessfragment according to a second exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Table 15 to Table 18 show by way of example, a format of an accessfragment according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Adifference in the access fragment between the first embodiment and thesecond embodiment is in that information of the same access fragment isused for a plurality of different services, and an efficient structurethereof will be proposed in the second embodiment. A definition of itemsin each table is substantially equal to the definition of Table 1, and adetailed description of the same parts throughout Table 15 to Table 18and Table 8 to Table 14 will be omitted.

In addition, compared with the attributes or elements defined in Table 8to Table 14, the unchanged parts of Table 15 to Table 18 will not beshown for simplicity.

TABLE 15 Name Type Category Cardinality Description Data Type *01 AccessE O 0 . . . N Access fragment Contains the following attributes: idversion validFrom validTo ServiceProtection Contains the following sub-elements: TerminalCapabilityRequirement BandwidthRequirement AccessTypeServiceID ExtensionURL UsageInfo SessionDescriptionURI SDPApplicationSpec MediaInformation *02 Id A M 1 ID of the Access fragment.Integer *03 version A M 1 Version of this fragment. The Byte newerversion overrides the (8 bits) older one as soon as it has beenreceived. *04 validFrom A O 0 . . . 1 The first moment when this Integerfragment is valid. If not given, (32 bits), the validity is assumed tohave expressed started at some time in the past. as NTP time. *05validTo A O 0 . . . 1 The last moment when this Integer fragment isvalid. If not given, (32 bits), the validity is assumed to end inexpressed an undefined time in the future. as NTP time. *06ServiceProtection A M 1 If true, this indicates that this Boolean accessrelated to the associated service is protected by OMA BCAST Serviceprotection; if false, this indicates this access related to theassociated service is not protected by OMA BCAST Service protection.

In Table 15, the access fragment proposed by the second embodimentcomprises attributes of “Id”*02, “version”*03, “validFrom”*04,“validTo”*05, and “ServiceProtection”*06, as specified in “Access”denoted by reference numeral *01. The five attributes represent uniqueattributes for the access fragment, and their functions aresubstantially equal to those of the attributes having the same names inTable 2. Further, the access fragment proposed in the second embodimentcomprises “TerminialCapabilityRequirement”*07,“BandwidthRequirement”*08, “Access Type”*09, “ServiceID”*17,“ExtensionURL”*18, “UsageInfo”*19, “SessionDescriptionURI”*21, “SDP”*23, “ApplicationSpec”*24, and “MediaInformation”*25 as itssub-elements, as specified in the “Access”*01.

TABLE 16 *07 TerminalCapabilityRequirement E1 O 0 . . . 1 Specificationof required terminal capabilities for String this access, such asprotocols, codecs, bit rate, processing and memory; UAprof is used forexpressing the capabilities. *08 BandwidthRequirement E1 O 0 . . . 1Specification of required network bandwidth to Integer access describedin this fragment. A broadcast service can include multiple accessiblestreams (same content) with different bandwidth, so that the terminalcan make a choice depending on its current reception condition. *09AccessType E1 M 1 Defines the type of access; Contains the followingAttributes: TransmissionMedia Contains the following elements:TransmissionTopology TransmissionScheme *10 Transmission_Media A M 1This attribute indicates which channel is used for Integer the deliveryof services, whose IDs are listed in this Access Fragment. 0: BroadcastChannel 1: Interaction Channel *11 Transmission_Topology E2 O 0 . . . 1This element is used for the indication of IP Integer transmission modeover Broadcast Channel. There are two possible modes. 0: Broadcast Mode1: Multicast Mode Contains the following Attributes: IP_Address *12IP_Address A O 0 . . . 1 IP address of IP stream, which transport AService String over Broadcast channel. If Transmission Topology is 0,then Type of IP address is IP Broadcast address. If TransmissionTopology is 1, then Type of IP address is IP Multicast address. Note:This attribute is used when SDP is not included in Access Fragment. IfSDP in Access Fragment exists, IP address of the receiver IP address inSDP is used. *13 Interaction_Scheme E2 O 0 . . . 1 This elementindicates which communication Integer system or protocol is used forInteraction.

The “TerminalCapabilityRequirement”*07 in Table 16 indicates therequirement for the mobile terminal that accesses the service throughthe access fragment, and “BandwidthRequirement”*08 indicates thebandwidth in the wireless channel of the service accessed through theaccess fragment. The “AccessType”*09, provided to indicate in whichmethod the mobile terminal will receive the service, is used to indicatewhether the service is transmitted over the broadcast channel ortransmitted over the interaction channel provided in the mobilecommunication network, and also indicate with which protocol or systemthe mobile terminal transmits the service. For this purpose, in thesecond embodiment, the “AccessType” is comprised of one attribute andtwo sub-elements.

That is, “Transmission_Media”*10 in Table 16 is an attribute indicatingwhether the service is transmitted over the broadcast channel or isprovided from a communication network capable of bidirectionalcommunication, and a type of the sub-element that can be included in the“AccessType” is determined according to a value of the attribute. If the“Transmission_Media” indicates that the service is transmitted over thebroadcast channel, “AccessType” comprises “Transmission_Topology”*11 and“IP_Address”*12, as its sub-elements.

The “Transmission_Topology” in Table 16 is an element indicating whetherthe service transmitted over the broadcast channel will be transmittedin a broadcast mode or a multicast mode. The broadcast mode and themulticast mode are used in Internet Protocol, and if the“Transmission_Topology” indicates the broadcast mode, it means that theservice is transmitted to a particular area regardless of the positionof the service recipient.

If the “Transmission_Topology” indicates the multicast mode, it meansthat the service is transmitted to the place where the service recipientis located in the serviceable area according to location information ofthe service recipient. In addition, when the “Transmission_Topology”indicates the multicast mode, the mobile terminal capable of receivingthe broadcast service preferably should make a subscription applicationto an IP address of the multicast mode and receive the broadcastservice.

The “IP_Address”*12 in Table 16, because the service is transmitted tomobile terminals in the form of IP flow in the broadcasting system, isan attribute indicating an address for the IP flow. The “IP_Address”becomes an IP broadcast address or an IP multicast address according toa value of the “Transmission_Topology”. Commonly, an IP address of theservice is indicated in the session description. However, when thesession description is not transmitted together with the accessfragment, it preferably should be provided to the mobile terminal foridentification of the service on the IP level.

If the attribute “Transmission_Media”*10 in Table 16 indicatesInteraction Channel, “Interaction_Scheme”*13 is included in the“AccessType” *09, and the “Interaction_Scheme” has a substantiallyequivalent meaning to the “Transmission_Scheme” described in the firstembodiment. In the second embodiment, the “Transmission_Scheme” has“AccessServerIPAddress”*14, “AccessServerURL”*15, and“AccessServerPhoneNumber”*16 as its sub-elements.

The “Transmission_Scheme” is an element indicating the communicationsystem or protocol used in the interaction channel, when it is possibleto access the service through the interaction channel. Although OMABCAST currently specifies, for example, Web Browsing, MultimediaMessaging Service (MMS), Wireless Application Protocol 1.0 (WAP1.0),Wireless Application Protocol 2.x (WAP 2.x), Short Messaging Service(SMS), and Hyper Text Transmission Protocol (HTTP) as the communicationsystems or protocols that can be used for the interaction channel,further communication systems and protocols that can be used for theinteraction channel can be added in the future.

TABLE 17 Channel. 1: Interaction Channel provided by Interaction network2: MMS 3: WAP 1.0 4: WAP 2 x 5: SMS 6: HTTP 7: Service Provider definedTransmission Scheme *14 AccessServerIPAddress E3 O 0 . . . N IP addressof Server, which provides String different access (over interactionChannel) of a Service. *15 AccessServerURL E3 O 0 . . . N ULR of Server,which provides AnyURI different access (over interaction Channel) of aService. *16 AccessServerPhoneNumber E3 O 0 . . . N Phone number ofServer, which Integer provides different access (over InteractionChannel) of a Service. *17 ServiceID E1 M 0 . . . N Reference to theservice fragment(s) to Integer which the access fragment belongs. *18ExtensionURL E1 O 0 . . . N URL containing additional information AnyURIin an extension fragment. *19 UsageInfo E1 O 0 . . . N This text helpsthe user understand what difference it makes to use one or the otheraccess fragment. It is mandatory in case more than one access fragmentis available at a given point in time. Possibly provided in multiplelanguages. Attributes: Lang *20 Lang A O 0 . . . 1 Language 3-byte ISO639 language code *21 SessionDescriptionURI E1 O 0 . . . 1 The URI tothe SG delivery unit(s) AnyURI which contain the session descriptionthat the media application in the terminal uses to access the service.In case of non-broadcast service, SessionDescriptionURI containsinformation how that particular service can be accessed. Contains thefollowing Attribute:

In Table 17, “AccessServerIPAddress”*14, “AccessServerURL”*15, and“AccessServerPhoneNumber”*16 are elements indicating an address of theserver that provides the service over the interaction channel in orderto indicate whether the mobile terminal receiving the access fragmentcan access the service through the interaction channel in any place.Because an addressing system used in each communication system orprotocol is different, the representative addressing system of thecommunication system and protocol, currently adapted to support theinteraction channel, is presented.

The “AccessServerIPAddress”*14 is an element indicating a position ofthe server based on Internet Protocol, the “AccessServerURL”*15 is anelement indicating a position of the server that uses the communicationsystem or protocol supporting Web or URL, and the“AccessServerPhoneNumber”*16 is an element indicating a position of theserver that enables access to the service using MMS or SMS. Further, anew communication system or protocol is added to the“Interaction_Scheme”*13 in Table 16, and if the addressing system of thecommunication system or protocol is different from the one currentlyprovided, a new addressing system can be added as a sub-element of the“Interaction_Scheme”.

In Table 17, “ServiceID”*17 indicates an identifier of the service thatcan be accessed using access information provided from the accessfragment, and when a plurality of services use the same access, aplurality of the “ServiceIDs” may exist. The “UsageInfo”*19 is anelement for giving a description of the characteristic of the accessfragment to the user of the mobile terminal, especially an element thatcan be used for describing the characteristic and correlation of eachaccess fragment for the user, even when there are a plurality of accessfragments for one service, providing sub-services having differentcharacteristics. The “UsageInfo” has “Lang”*20 as an attribute.

TABLE 18 Type Note: Using either SessionDescriptionURI or SDP ismandatory. *22 Type A M 1 Type of the AccessURI Integer 1 - SDP;AccessURI is a reference to SDP description; 2 - MBMS-USD; AccessURI isa reference to MBMS user service description (MBMS-USD) as specified in[26.346] section 5.2. It may contain one or several SDP descriptions.*23 SDP E1 O 0 . . . 1 A session description in SDP (IETF String sessiondescription protocol) format. (in SDP format) *24 ApplicationSpec E1 O 0. . . N Application type that can consume String the service using thisaccess spec defined by MIME type. *25 Medialnformation E1 O 0 . . . NOptional reference to an icon, pictogramme, animation or audio.PreviewData or reference to PreviewData is used here. Attributes: usageid *26 Usage A M 1 Possible values: background, Integer icon(e.g.). (8bits) *27 Id A M 1 ID of the PreviewData fragment. Integer (8 bits) *28<proprietary E1 or O 0 . . . N Any number of proprietary orelements/attributes> lower. application-specific elements or Aattributes that are not defined in this specification.

In Table 17 and Table 18, the “SessionDescriptionURI”*21, “Type”*22,“SDP”*23, “ApplicationSpec”*24, “MediaInformation”*25, “Usage”*26, “Id”*27, and “<proprietary elements/attributes>”*28 have substantially thesame functions as those of the conventional access fragment, so adetailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating andtransmitting an access fragment in an OMA broadcasting system accordingto the second embodiment of the present invention. This processcorresponds to an operation of the access fragment generator 201 in thetransmission apparatus of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 6, the access fragment generator 201 determines instep 601 whether there is a need to generate a new access fragment. Ifthere is a need to generate a new access fragment, it means that a newservice starts, or that there is a need to provide a new additionalservice or a new access method for the current service to a mobileterminal receiving the broadcast service. If it is determined in step601 that there is a need to generate a new access fragment, the accessfragment generator 201 sets basic information for the access fragment instep 603. The basic information comprises at least one of “Id”,“version”, “validFrom” and “validTo” both related to validity of theaccess fragment, “ServiceProtection” indicating whether ServiceProtection is applied or not, “TerminalCapabilityRequirement” indicatingthe requirement of the mobile terminal intending to have access to theservice, and “BandwidthRequirement” indicating a data rate of theservice in the wireless channel, all of which are described inconnection with Table 15 and Table 16.

In step 605, the access fragment generator 201 determines whether theservice that can be accessed through the corresponding access fragmentwill be transmitted over a broadcast channel or an interaction channel.If the service is to be transmitted over the interaction channel, theaccess fragment generator 201 proceeds to step 607. However, if theservice is to be transmitted over the broadcast channel, the accessfragment generator 201 proceeds to step 613.

The access fragment generator 201 sets a transmission scheme for acommunication system or protocol to be used, in step 607, and sets anaddress for the corresponding communication system or protocol in step609. Thereafter, in step 611, the access fragment generator 201 sets atleast one service ID that can be accessed with the information providedin the access fragment.

In step 613, the access fragment generator 201 sets transmissiontopology information indicating whether the corresponding access or theservice using the access will be transmitted in a broadcast mode or amulticast mode. The mode-related information is determined by atransmission entity or a service providing entity, and the accessfragment generator 201 receives the mode-related information providedfrom the corresponding entity, and sets the transmission topologyinformation depending on the mode-related information. In step 615, theaccess fragment generator 201 sets IP information of an IP flow wherethe service is transmitted, and then proceeds to step 611.

Thereafter, in step 617, the access fragment generator 201 sets serviceusage information “UsageInfo”, and if there is characteristicdescription for the corresponding access fragment and a plurality ofaccess fragments for one service, the access fragment generator 201 addsdescription of characteristic and correlation for each of them to theaccess fragment so that a broadcast service recipient may detect thedifference.

In step 619, the access fragment generator 201 sets information on thesession in which the service, whose access information is providedthrough the corresponding access fragment, is transmitted. The sessioninformation comprises an IP address of a sender, an IP address of arecipient, a type of data transmitted through the session, and a codecused. Session Description Protocol defined by IETF is a typical exampleof the session information. Thereafter, in step 621, the access fragmentgenerator 201 sets the other information constituting the accessfragment, and then ends the operation.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving and analyzingan access fragment in a broadcasting system according to the secondembodiment of the present invention. This process corresponds to anoperation of the access fragment analyzer 405 in the reception apparatusof FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 7, the access fragment analyzer 405 determines in step701 whether there is any new access fragment received. The determinationcriteria is an attribute “version” of the received access fragment. Ifit is determined in step 701 that there is any access fragment received,the access fragment analyzer 405 analyzes, in step 703, the basicinformation of the access fragment, determines a valid period of theaccess fragment in the basic information, and recognizes that theinformation provided through the access fragment is valid only in thevalid period. With the use of the basic information, the access fragmentanalyzer 405 determines whether the service provided by the accessfragment underwent service protection before being transmitted. If theservice underwent service protection, the access fragment analyzer 405prepares to perform a related operation so that it can correctly receivethe service provided through the corresponding access information. Inaddition, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks a basic attribute forthe corresponding access information, and compares a performancecondition of the mobile terminal required by the service based on theaccess information with a performance condition of the current mobileterminal to determine whether the service is receivable. Further, ifthere are several access fragments for the same service taking intoaccount the bandwidth in the wireless channel where the service based onthe access information is provided, the access fragment analyzer 405 canselect an appropriate access fragment determined taking the performanceof the mobile terminal into consideration, and receive the serviceaccording to the information provided from the access fragment.

In step 705, the access fragment analyzer 405 determines whether theaccess information for receiving at least one service is for thebroadcast channel or the interaction channel. If the access informationis for the interaction channel, the access fragment analyzer 405proceeds to step 707. However, if access information is for thebroadcast channel, the access fragment analyzer 405 proceeds to step713.

In step 707, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks a transmissionscheme and recognizes a communication system or protocol to be used.After recognizing that it should access the corresponding service usingthe determined communication system or protocol, the access fragmentanalyzer 405 analyzes, in step 709, an address of the server thatprovides the corresponding service over the interaction channel, andprepares to transmit a service request. The addressing system may differaccording to communication system and protocol using the interactionchannel.

Thereafter, in step 711, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks serviceusage information “UsageInfo” for at least one service that can beaccessed with the access information, and if there is characteristicdescription for the access fragment and a plurality of access fragmentsfor one service, or if there is one access fragment for a plurality ofservices, the access fragment analyzer 405 recognizes characteristic andcorrelation for each of them, and the mobile terminal displays thecorresponding description for the user who will receive the service soas to allow the user to make an appropriate selection.

In step 713, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks the transmissiontopology, analyzes the information indicating whether the service willbe transmitted in the broadcast mode or the multicast mode, and preparesto perform an operation appropriate for the analysis result. For theservice transmitted in the broadcast mode, the mobile terminal canreceive the corresponding service without joining in the service.However, for the service transmitted in the multicast mode, the mobileterminal preferably should perform a Join process for a multicast IPaddress group of an IP flow where the service is transmitted, in orderto receive the service.

In step 715, the access fragment analyzer 405 checks an address of theIP flow from the access information with which access to thecorresponding service is possible. The address of the IP flow is veryimportant for the mobile terminal scheduled to receive a correspondingservice in the process of distinguishing an IP address with which accessto the service is possible. If the address of the IP flow is notprovided, the mobile terminal preferably should perform an operation ofreceiving all IP flows transmitted through the broadcast channel anddetermining an IP address for the desired service. The address of the IPflow is connected to a communication bearer under an IP layer andindicates which communication bearer the mobile terminal should receivein order to receive the IP flow. The method may be different in eachbroadcast system providing the broadcast channel and departs from thescope of the present invention, so a detailed description thereof willbe omitted.

After determining an address of the IP flow in step 715, the accessfragment analyzer 405 proceeds to step 711 where it checks and displaysa service ID and service usage information. In step 717, the accessfragment analyzer 405 checks information on the session where theservice(s), whose access information is provided from the accessfragment, is transmitted, and allows the mobile terminal to prepare toreceive the session where the service is actually transmitted.Thereafter, in step 719, the access fragment analyzer 405 analyzes theother information provided from the access fragment and uses the relatedinformation for an appropriate purpose. In step 721, the access fragmentanalyzer 405 prepares to access and receive the service according to theinformation analyzed from the access fragment, and then ends theoperation.

Third Exemplary Embodiment

With reference to Table 19 to Table 37, a description will now be madeof a method for providing access information for service transmissionvia a broadcast network and service transmission via an interactionnetwork according to a third exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

As described in the first and second exemplary embodiments, the accessfragment provides access information that the mobile terminal uses tohave access to the service.

In Table 19 and Table 20 below, “Id”, “version”, “validFrom”, and“validTo” indicate basic information of ID, version and valid period forthe access fragment, respectively. In Table 20, “AccessType” comprisesdetailed access information of the broadcast network or interactionnetwork for the service. In Table 26, “KeyManagementSystem” comprisesinformation indicating during service access whether the correspondingservice is encrypted or whether the corresponding content is encrypted,and also comprises information on the method used for the encryption. InTable 29, “AlternativeAccessURL” comprises information on an address,access to which is possible via the interaction network, in case themobile terminal has difficulty in accessing the corresponding broadcastnetwork when the “AccessType” of Table 20 comprises broadcast networkinformation. The “TerminalCapabilityRequirement” in Table 30 and“BandwidthRequirement” in Table 35, indicate the requirement of themobile terminal for having access to the corresponding service, andbandwidth information of the service, respectively.

In Table 35, “ServiceClass” indicates the purposes of using thecorresponding access fragment, i.e. service guide reception, filetransmission, stream transmission, and so forth. In Table 37,“NotificationReception” comprises address information for reception ofnotification messages.

The “AccessType” in Table 20 according to embodiments of the presentinvention will now be described in greater detail. The “AccessType”comprises detailed information for the service access. That is, thecorresponding “AccessType” indicates whether it is access informationfor the broadcast network or access information for the interactionnetwork according to “transmissionMedia” information in Table 20. If the“transmissionMedia” is access information for the broadcast network, the“AccessType” comprises only the “BroadcastServiceDelivery” informationof Table 20, and if the “transmissionMedia” is access information forthe interaction network, the “AccessType” comprises only the“UnicastServiceDelivery” information of Table 24.

In Table 20, the “transmissionMedia” used for distinguishing between thebroadcast network and the interaction network can be optionally includedin the “AccessType”. Even when the “transmissionMedia” is not included,only one of the “BroadcastServiceDelivery” information of Table 20 foraccess to the broadcast network, and the “UnicastServiceDelivery”information of Table 24 for access to the interaction network, isincluded in the “AccessType”, so the mobile terminal can determinewhether it will have access to the broadcast network or the interactionnetwork by determining which information is included in the“AccessType”.

The “BroadcastServiceDelivery” information comprises detailed accessinformation related to the broadcast network, and based on “bdsType” ofTable 21, the mobile terminal can determine through which broadcastnetwork the service is received. For example, if the “bdsType” has avalue of 0, the mobile terminal is serviced through DVB-H IPDC, and thevalues specified in the “BroadcastServiceDelivery” comprise the detailedinformation that the mobile terminal uses to access the DVB-H IPDC andreceive the service.

The “destinationIPAddress” in Table 21 denotes an IP address used forreceiving the service via the broadcast network, and the mobile terminalaccesses the corresponding address and receives the service. Thecorresponding address information is used when“SessionDescriptionReference” or SDP information of Table 22 is notincluded. When the “SessionDescriptionReference” or SDP is included, themobile terminal checks the address value and detailed access informationin the corresponding SDP information, and accesses the broadcastnetwork.

The “UnicastServiceDelivery” in Table 24 denotes access information forthe case where the mobile terminal receives the service via theinteraction network. The detailed address information used by the mobileterminal to receive the service is specified in “AccessServerURL” ofTable 24. In addition, “transmissionSchemeType” in Table 25 indicates atransport mechanism used for accessing the corresponding“AccessServerURL” and downloading the service, and the transportmechanism indicates information on HTTP, MMS, WAP, and so forth. Forexample, if the “transmissionSchemeType” is 0, the mobile terminalaccesses the corresponding address “AccessServerURL” using the HTTP, andreceives the service.

TABLE 19 Name Type Category Cardinality Description Data Type Access EAccess fragment Contains the following attributes: id version validFromvalidTo Contains the following sub-elements: AccessTypeServiceAccessNotificationURL KeyManagementSystem TerminalBindingKeyIDExtensionURL ServiceIDRef ScheduleReference UsageInfoAlternativeAccessURL TerminalCapabilityRequirement BandwidthRequirementServiceClass PreviewDataIDRef NotificationReception Id A NM/ 1 ID of theAccess fragment, globally anyURI TM unique. version A NM/ 1 Version ofthis fragment. The newer unsignedInt TM version overrides the older oneas soon (32 bits) as it has been received. validFrom A NO/ 0 . . . 1 Thefirst moment when this fragment int TM is valid. If not given, thevalidity is (32 bits). assumed to have started at some time expressed inthe past. as NTP time.

TABLE 20 validTo A NO/ 0 . . . 1 The last moment when this fragment isint TM valid. If not given, the validity is (32 bits), assumed to end inan undefined time in expressed the future. as NTP time. AccessType E1NM/ 1 Defines the type of access. TM Contains the following Attribute:transmissionMedia Contains the following elements:BroadcastServiceDelivery UnicastserviceDelivery transmissionMedia A NM/1 This attribute indicates which channel Boolean TM is used for thedelivery of service. 0: Broadcast Channel 1: Interaction ChannelBroadcastServiceDelivery E2 NO/ 0 . . . 1 This element is used for theindication TM of IP transmission. This element may only be present when:TransmissionMedia == 0. Contains the following Attribute: bdsTypedestinationIPAddress Contains the following elements:SessionDescriptionReference SDP

TABLE 21 bdsType A NO/ 0 . . . 1 Identifier of the type of underlyingunsignedByte TM distribution system that this access fragment relatesto. This attribute may only be present when: TransmissionMedia == 0.Defined values 0: DVB-H IPDC 1. 3GPP MBMS Rel-6 2: 3GPP MBMS Rel-7 3:3GPP2 BCMCS (1x) 4: 3GPP2 BCMCS (HRPD) 5: 3GPP2 Enhanced BCMCS (HRPD)6-127: reserved for future use 128-255: reserved for proprietary usedestinationIPAddress A NO/ 0 . . . 1 DestinationIP address of IP stream,string TM which transport A Service over Broadcast channel. Note: Thisattribute is used when SDP is not included in Access Fragment. If SDP inAccess Fragment exists, IP address of the receiver IP address in SDP isused.

TABLE 22 Session E3 NO/ 0 . . . N The reference to the Description TMSessionDescription this access Reference relates to. Note: TheSessionDescription itself may be delivered in two ways via broadcast orvia fetch over interaction channel. In the case of broadcast delivery,the SessionDescription fragment is either delivered in SGDU orencapsulated in this Access fragment. In the latter case the SDP elementis used instead of the Session Description Reference. IfAuxiliaryDescription fragments are provided they are referenced by theSessionDescriptionReference. In the case of fetch over interactionchannel, the Session Description can be acquired by accessing the URI(given as attribute of this element). Contains the following Attributes:type uri idRef

TABLE 23 type A NM/TM 1 Type of the session description referred by thisunsignedByte SessionDescriptionReference 0 - SDP 1 - MBMS User ServiceDescription (MBMS- USD) as specified in [26.346] section 5.2. It maycontain one or several SDP descriptions. 2 - AssociatedDeliveryProcedurefor File Distribution 3 - AssociatedDeliveryProcedure for StreamDistribution 4-127 Reserved for future use 128-255 Reserved forproprietary use uri A NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The URI to the file containinganyURI SessionDescription that the media application in the terminaluses to access the service or the URI for associatedDeliveryProcedurefor File and Stream Distribution. idRef A NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The id of theSessionDescription fragment this anyURI access refers to, globallyunique. SDP E3 NO/TM 0 . . . 1 A session description in SDP (IETFsession string description protocol) format.

TABLE 24 UnicastServiceDelivery E2 NO/TM 0 . . . N This elementindicates which server and/or protocol is used for delivery of serviceover Interaction Channel. This element may only be present when:TransmissionMedia == 1. Contains the following elements: AccessServerURLAccessServerURL E3 NO/TM 0 . . . N Server URL from which the terminalanyURI can receive the service via the Interaction Network. For example,AccessServerURL can be an HTTP URL pointing to downloadable content, oran RTSP URL pointing to a streaming server for starting a streamingsession. Contains the following Attribute: transmissionSchemeType

TABLE 25 transmission A NM/TM 1 Specifies transport mechanism that isused unsignedByte SchemeType for this access. 0 - HTTP 1 - MMS 2 - WAP1.0 3 - WAP 2.x 4 - RTP 5 - 3GPP-PSS (3GPP packet-switched streamingservice) 6 - 3GPP2-MSS (3GPP2 multimedia streaming services) 7 - 3GPP CSvideotelephony (3GPP Circuit Switched H324m call) 8 - FLUTE 9-127Reserved for future use 128-255 Reserved for proprietary use (Note:Other protocol or communication system may be added based on OMA Serviceinteraction function). ServiceAccessNo- E1 NO/TM 0 . . . N URL that theterminal may use to notify anyURI tificationURL when it accesses(switches to) this service over this access. The terminal shall not usethis URL for notification without user consent. Note: This URL can forexample be used for initiating server-managed channel switching inunicast transmission.

TABLE 26 KeyManage- E1 NO/ 0 . . . N Identifies the type of KeymentSystem TM Management System(s)(KMS) that can be used to contact theRights Issuer and, for GBA, whether GBA_U is mandatory or whether eitherGBA_ME or GBA_U can be used. Note that the Rights Issuer can supportmore than one KMS. If KeyManagementSystem is not specified, it means noprotection is applied. Values: oma-bcast-drm-pki Indicates OMA DRM PKI(Public Key Infrastructure); oma-bcast-gba_u-mbms Indicates GBA_U 3GPPMBMS SKI (Symmetric Key Infrastructure); oma-bcast-gba_me-mbms IndicatesGBA_ME 3GPP MBMS SKI i.e. either GBA_ME or GBA_U can be used;oma-bcast-gba_u-bcmcs Indicates GBA_U 3GPP2 BCMCS SKI;oma-bcast-gba_me-bcmcs Indicates GBA_ME 3GPP2 BCMCS SKI i.e. eitherGBA_ME or GBA_U can be used; oma-bcast-prov-bcmcs Indicates provisioned3GPP2 BCMCS SKI. Contains the following Attributes: ProtectionTypeRightsIssuerURI

TABLE 27 ProtectionType A NM/TM 1 . . . 2 Specifies the protection typeoffered by the unsignedByte KMS. (8 bits) Values: 1 Content protectiononly 2 Service protection only 3 Both Content protection and ServiceProtection 4 Use of terminal binding (smartcard profile only) 5-127Reserved for future use 128-255 Reserved for proprietary useRightsIssuerURI A NM/TM 1 Specifies the RightsIssuer URI. anyURITerminalBinding E1 NO/TM 1 Number identifying the Terminal Binding int(32 bits) KeyID Key ID (TBK ID) that is needed to access the service. Itis TM for terminals with the smartcard profile. It does not apply to theDRM profile. Contains the following optional Attribute: RightsIssuerURIRightsIssuerURI A NO/TM 0 . . . 1 Specifies the RightsIssuer URI for theanyURI TerminalBindingKey if it is different to the RightsIssuerURIindicated in the KeyManagementSystem element. i.e. If the attribute isnot present, the same RightsIssuerURI is used to acquire both SEK/PEKand TerminalBindingKey.

TABLE 28 ServiceIDRef E1 NO/TM 0 . . . N Reference to the servicefragment(s) to which anyURI the access fragment belongs. Either one ofthe ServiceIDRef or ScheduleIDRef but not both shall be instantiated.Note: Implementation in XML Schema using <choice>. Each Service fragmentshall be associated to at least one Access fragment to enable theterminal to access the Service. ScheduleReference E1 NM/TM 0 . . . NReference to the schedule fragment(s) to which the access fragmentbelongs. This provides a reference to a Schedule fragment to temporarilyoverride the default Access fragment of the Service addressed by theSchedule. Either one of ServiceIDRef or ScheduleIDRef but not both shallbe instantiated. Note: Implementation in XML Schema using <choice>.Contains Attribute: idRef Contains sub-element: DistributionWindowID

TABLE 29 idRef A NM/TM 1 Identification of the Schedule fragment anyURIwhich the Access fragment relates to. DistributionWindowID E2 NO/TM 0 .. . N Relation reference to the integer DistributionWindowID to whichthe access fragment belongs. The DistributionWindowIDs declared in thiselement shall be the complete collection or a subset of the DWidsdeclared in the Schedule fragment, to which “idRef” reference belongs.UsageInfo E1 NO/TM 0 . . . N This text helps the user understand whatstring difference it makes to use one or the other access fragment. It‘is mandatory in case more than one access fragment is available at agiven point in time. Possibly provided in multiple languages. Thelanguage is expressed using built-in XML attribute xml:lang with thiselement. AlternativeAccessURL E1 NO/TM 0 . . . N Specify alternative URLof the content for anyURI retrieving it via the interaction channel(e.g. if the content cannot be received via the broadcast channel).

TABLE 30 TerminalCa- E1 NO/ 0 . . . 1 Terminal capabilities requiredpability TM to consume the service or content. Requirement For video andaudio, the media type and the related type attributes in the SDP (seesection 5.1.2.5) signal the audio/video decoder. This way, theseparameters complement the TerminalCapabilityRequirement. Additionally,the complexities of the audio/video streams are described here if theydiffer from the complexities which can be derived from the media typeattributes in the SDP (e.g. level). In this case, the parameters definedin the Access fragment take priority. Sub-elements: Video AudioDownloadFile Video E2 NO/ 0 . . . 1 Video codec capability related TMrequirements Sub-elements: Complexity

TABLE 31 Complexity E3 NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The complexity the video decoderhas to deal with. It is recommended that this element is included if thecomplexity indicated by the MIME type parameters in the SDP differs fromthe actual complexity. Sub-elements: Bitrate ResolutionMinimumBufferSize Bitrate E4 NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The total bit-rate of thevideo stream. Attributes: average maximum average A NO/TM 0 . . . 1 Theaverage bit-rate in kbits/sec unsigned Short (16 bits) maximum A NO/TM 0. . . 1 The maximum bit-rate in kbits/sec unsigned Short (16 bits)

TABLE 32 Resolution E4 NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The resolution of the video.Attributes: horizontal vertical horizontal A NM/TM 1 The horizontalresolution of the video. unsignedShort (16 bits) vertical A NM/TM 1 Thevertical resolution of the video. unsignedShort (16 bits) Minimum E4NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The minimum decoder buffer size required to unsignedIntBufferSize process the video content in kbytes. (32 bits) Audio E2 NO/TM0 . . . 1 The audio codec capability. Sub-elements: Complexity

TABLE 33 Complexity E3 NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The complexity the audio decoderhas to deal with. It is recommended that this element is included if thecomplexity indicated by the MIME type parameters in the SDP differs fromthe actual complexity. Sub-elements: Bitrate MinimumBufferSize BitrateE4 NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The total bit-rate of the audio stream. Attributes:average maximum average A NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The average bit-rate inkbits/sec. unsignedShort (16 bits) maximum A NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The maximumbit-rate in kbits/sec. unsignedShort (16 bits) MinimumBuff- E4 NO/TM 0 .. . 1 The minimum decoder buffer size required unsignedInt erSize toprocess the video content in kbytes. (32 bits)

TABLE 34 DownloadFile E2 NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The required capability for thedownload files. Sub-elements: MIMETypeSet MIMETypeSet E3 NO/TM 0 . . . NAssuming a download service consists of a set of files with differentMIME types which together make up the service, the terminal must supportall of these MIME types in order to be able to present the service tothe user. A MIMETypeSet lists all of these MIME types. If a terminaldoes not support one or more of the MIME types, it will probably not beable to present the service. Sub-elements: Type Type E4 NO/TM 0 . . . NOne MIME type in the MIMETypeSet. The format of string this string shallfollow the Content-type syntax in [RFC 2045]. Contains the followingAttributes: Codec

TABLE 35 Codec A NO/TM 0 . . . 1 The codec parameters for the associatedMIME string Media type. If the file's MIME type definition specifiesmandatory parameters, these must be included in this string. Optionalparameters containing information that can be used to determine as towhether the terminal can make use of the file should be included in thestring. One example of the parameters defined for audio/3GPP,audio/3GPP2, video/3GPP, video/3GPP2 is specified in [RFC4281].BandwidthRe- E1 NO/TM 0 . . . 1 Specification of required networkbandwidth to integer quirement access described in this fragment; Abroadcast service can include multiple accessible streams (same content)with different bandwidth, so that the terminal can make a choicedepending on its current reception condition. ServiceClass E1 NM/TM 1 .. . N The ServiceClass identifies the class of service. This stringidentification is more detailed than the type attribute in the servicefragment and allows the association of service/access combination tospecific applications.

TABLE 36 Pre- E1 NO/ 0 . . . N Reference to the PreviewData anyURIviewData TM fragment which specifies an IDRef icon, pictogramme,animation or audio. Attribute: usage usage A NM/ 1 Possible values:unsign- TM 0. unspecified edByte 1. background (8 bits) 2. icon/logo 3.poster 4. trailer 5. barker 6. service/channel zapping 7-127. reservedfor future use 128-255. reserved for proprietary use Note: only usage =6 (service/ channel zapping) is the valid value when the preview data isassociated with Access fragment.

TABLE 37 Notification E1 NO/TM 0 . . . 1 Reception information forNotification Reception Messages. NotificationPort is mandatory because adesignated UDP Port shall be used to deliver the notification messagethrough an on-going session or the designated session whileNotificationAddress is optionally used for the delivery of NotificationMessages through the designated multicast or broadcast session. Containsthe following attributes: NotificationPort NotificationAddressNotificationRequestURL NotificationPollURL Notification A NO/TM 0 . . .1 Service-specific Notification Message delivery integer Port UDP Portnumber. Notification A NO/TM 0 . . . 1 Service-specific NotificationMessage delivery string Address IP multicast address. Note: IfNotification Message is delivered over interaction channel, thisattribute should be combined with NotificationPort. Notification A NO/TM0 . . . 1 URL through which the terminal can subscribe anyURI RequestURLto service-specific Notification Messages. Notification A NO/TM 0 . . .1 URL through which the terminal can poll anyURI PollURLservice-specific Notification Messages. <proprietary E1 or NO/TO 0 . . .N Any number of proprietary or application- elements/ lower, specificelements or attributes that are not attributes> A defined in thisspecification.

As can be understood from the foregoing description, embodiments of thepresent invention can provide detailed access information of thebroadcast network or the interaction network, via which the broadcastservice is transmitted, in the broadcasting system providing IP-basedbroadcast services.

Embodiments of the present invention can provide detailed accessinformation of the broadcast network or the interaction network, viawhich the service is transmitted to the mobile terminal, by providing anefficient access fragment format in the broadcasting system providingIP-based broadcast services.

Further, embodiments of the present invention can provide an efficientaccess fragment format when accessing a plurality of services throughone access fragment.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention provide an accessfragment transmission/reception method and apparatus for efficientlysupporting the transmission scheme/transmission topology and protocolfor each individual channel over which the service is transmitted, inthe process of configuring Access Type of the access fragment, therebyallowing the mobile terminal to efficiently access the service.

Moreover, embodiments of the present invention provide IP multicasttransmission information to the mobile terminal in the broadcastingsystem requiring a high data rate, contributing to a reduction in thewireless resources.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for transmitting access information of a broadcast service in a transmitter of a broadcasting system, the method comprising: generating the access information comprising an access type for indicating either a broadcast delivery mode or a unicast delivery mode, by which the broadcast service is transmitted; and transmitting a service guide provided for the broadcast service to a terminal, wherein the access information is included in an access fragment and the access fragment is transmitted through the service guide provided for the broadcast service.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein when the broadcast service is provided by the broadcast delivery mode, the access information comprises an Internet protocol (IP) address for access to the broadcast service.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the IP address comprises either a multicast IP address or a broadcast IP address.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein when the access information comprises a session description protocol (SDP), an IP address in the SDP is used as an IP address for access to the broadcast service.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein when the broadcast service is provided by the unicast delivery mode, the access information comprises address information of a server for access to the broadcast service.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the address information of the server is provided to the terminal using at least one of multimedia messaging service (MMS) and short messaging service (SMS).
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcasting system comprises an IP-based broadcasting system.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the access information further comprises information indicating a network by which the broadcast service is provided, by either the broadcast delivery mode or the unicast delivery mode.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the access information further comprises at least one of requirement information for a capability of the terminal receiving the broadcast service and bandwidth information of the broadcast service.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein there is a plurality of access information for one broadcast service.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcasting system comprises an Open Mobile Alliance browser and content mobile broadcast (OMA BCAST) system.
 12. An apparatus for transmitting access information of a broadcast service in a broadcasting system, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and a transmitter coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate the access information comprising an access type for indicating either a broadcast delivery mode or a unicast delivery mode, by which the broadcast service is transmitted, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit a service guide provided for the broadcast service, and wherein the access information is included in an access fragment and the access fragment is transmitted through the service guide provided for the broadcast service.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein when the broadcast service is provided by the broadcast delivery mode, the access information comprises an internet protocol (IP) address for access to the broadcast service.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the IP address comprises either a multicast IP address or a broadcast IP address.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein when the access information comprises a session description protocol (SDP), an IP address in the SDP is used as an IP address for access to the broadcast service.
 16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein when the broadcast service is provided by the unicast delivery mode, the access information comprises address information of a server for access to the broadcast service.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the address information of the server is provided to a terminal using at least one of multimedia messaging service (MMS) and short messaging service (SMS).
 18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the broadcasting system comprises an IP-based broadcasting system.
 19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the access information further comprises information indicating a network by which the broadcast service is provided, by either the broadcast delivery mode or the unicast delivery mode.
 20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the access information further comprises at least one of requirement information for a capability of a terminal receiving the broadcast service and bandwidth information of the broadcast service.
 21. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein there is a plurality of access information for one broadcast service.
 22. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the broadcasting system comprises an Open Mobile Alliance browser and content mobile broadcast (OMA BCAST) system.
 23. A method for receiving access information of a broadcast service in a terminal of a broadcasting system, the method comprising: receiving a service guide comprising the access information provided for the broadcast service; and receiving the broadcast service by either a broadcast delivery mode or a unicast delivery mode based on the received access information comprising an access type for indicating either the broadcast delivery mode or the unicast delivery mode, by which the broadcast service is transmitted, wherein the access information received through the service guide is included in an access fragment.
 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising: determining a network by which the broadcast service is transmitted, by either the broadcast delivery mode or the unicast delivery mode according to the received access information; and setting an access address for reception of the broadcast service.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein when the broadcast service is provided by the broadcast delivery mode, the access information comprises an internet protocol (IP) address for access to the broadcast service, and wherein the setting step comprises the step of setting the access address as the IP address.
 26. The method of claim 24, wherein when the access information comprises session description protocol (SDP), an IP address in the SDP is used as an IP address for access to the broadcast service, and wherein the setting step comprises the step of setting the access address as the IP address in the SDP.
 27. The method of claim 24, wherein the IP address comprises either a multicast IP address or a broadcast IP address.
 28. The method of claim 24, wherein when the broadcast service is provided by the unicast delivery mode, the access information comprises address information of a server for access to the broadcast service, and wherein the setting step comprises the step of setting the access address as the address information of the server for access to the broadcast service.
 29. The method of claim 28, further comprising: receiving the address information of the server through at least one of multimedia messaging service (MMS) and short messaging service (SMS).
 30. The method of claim 23, wherein the broadcasting system comprises an IP-based broadcasting system.
 31. The method of claim 23, wherein the access information further comprises information indicating a network by which the broadcast service is provided, by either the broadcast delivery mode or the unicast delivery mode.
 32. The method of claim 23, wherein the access information further comprises at least one of requirement information for a capability of the terminal receiving the broadcast service and bandwidth information of the broadcast service, and wherein the terminal achieves access to the broadcast service based on at least one of the requirement information and the bandwidth information.
 33. The method of claim 23, wherein there is a plurality of access information for one broadcast service.
 34. The method of claim 23, wherein the broadcasting system comprises an Open Mobile Alliance browser and content mobile broadcast (OMA BCAST) system.
 35. An apparatus for receiving access information of a broadcast service in a terminal of a broadcasting system, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and a receiver coupled to the at least one processor, and the receiver configured to: receive a service guide comprising the access information provided for the broadcast service, and receive the broadcast service by either a broadcast delivery mode or a unicast delivery mode based on the received access information comprising an access type for indicating either the broadcast delivery mode or the unicast delivery mode, by which the broadcast service is transmitted, wherein the access information received through the service guide is included in an access fragment.
 36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the receiver is further configured to: determine a network by which the broadcast service is transmitted, by either the broadcast delivery mode or the unicast delivery mode according to the received access information, and set an access address for reception of the broadcast service.
 37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein when the broadcast service is provided by the broadcast delivery mode, the access information comprises an internet protocol (IP) address for access to the broadcast service, and wherein the receiver is further configured to set the access address as the IP address.
 38. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein when the access information comprises session description protocol (SDP), an IP address in the SDP is used as an IP address for access to the broadcast service, and wherein the receiver is further configured to set the access address as the IP address in the SDP.
 39. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the IP address comprises either a multicast IP address or a broadcast IP address.
 40. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein when the broadcast service is provided by the unicast delivery mode, the access information comprises address information of a server for access to the broadcast service, and wherein the receiver is further configured to set the access address as the address information of the server for access to the broadcast service.
 41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the receiver is further configured to analyze the access information and then receive the address information of the server through at least one of multimedia messaging service (MMS) and short messaging service (SMS).
 42. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the broadcasting system comprises an IP-based broadcasting system.
 43. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the access information further comprises information indicating a network by which the broadcast service is provided, by either the broadcast delivery mode or the unicast delivery mode.
 44. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the access information further comprises at least one of requirement information for a capability of the terminal receiving the broadcast service and bandwidth information of the broadcast service, and wherein the receiver is further configured to achieve access to the broadcast service based on at least one of the requirement information and the bandwidth information.
 45. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein there is a plurality of access information for one broadcast service.
 46. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the broadcasting system comprises an Open Mobile Alliance browser and content mobile broadcast (OMA BCAST) system. 